Florida Dad Medicates Autistic Daughter with “Synthetic Marijuana”

Florida dad claims his autistic kids need access to medicinal marijuana. It seems he believed the “potpourri” he bought was a legal and suitable substitute for medicinal marijuana.

A Florida Dad is making headlines this week after being acquitted of child neglect. This despite having been accused of forcing his 7 and 10 year old children to smoke a “not for human consumption” herbal potpourri product from a glass pipe, on video, which he later posted to Facebook. For realz.

Scott Crawley of Palm Bay is being held on $127,000 bail for a collection of charges. According to various news reports collected, the story is as bizarre as it sounds. An family argument over pocket money turned mildly violent, which led to a police visit. While there, police were exposed to a glass jar of Diesel Potpourri. Crawley was allegedly arrested for battery and other charges.

Crawley is reported to be clinically diagnosed as autistic and schizophrenic, and on medication. He has advocated for legal medical marijuana on Facebook. He reportedly posted a video to Facebook of him making his kids take hits from a glass pipe of Diesel Potpourri. That video is no longer online.

Did Dad believe it was a legal synthetic substitute for marijuana?

There seems to be some confusion that Scott Crawley thought Diesel Potpourri was a “synthetic marijuana”. It seems likely he believed he was purchasing a legal substitute for marijuana, which he wanted to give to his children as therapy for their autism and diabetes.

He made statements both as he was arrested and later from jail about raising awareness for medicinal marijuana. He also said he wanted to take care of his children while avoiding pharmaceuticals. His statements suggest he may have believed the herbal potpourri was a form of marijuana.

The web site for Diesel Potpourri expired on June 14, but many web sites are still selling the product. Since it apparently is not made from one of the synthetic marijuana molecules banned by the DEA, and is not marijuana, Deisel Potpourri is legal. It is sold in head shops, and is labeled “not for human consumption”.

Dad advocates for medicinal marijuana, wants to avoid a repeat of his own experiences with pharmaceuticals as treatment for autism, and wants his autistic kids to have marijuana therapy. So he buys "potpourri" in a head shop, makes them smoke it, and posts a video of them smoking it to Facebook. He was arrested.

So what is it? That is what led to child endangerment charges. It’s an unknown substance, sold in head shops, and smoked out of a glass pipe like many illicit drugs. To “force” a 7 year old to smoke anything is questionable. But what about smoking an unknown, untested herbal product? The Judge acquitted Crawley on that charge, reportedly finding there wasn’t enough evidence of harm being done to the children.

There is no ignoring how wrong his behavior was, but the judge didn’t find him sufficiently guilty of child endangerment to warrant prosecution on this charge. He is still under arrest, and being prosecuted for related charges.

What about this potpourri “Diesel”? Here is how a “diesel potpourri high” is described on one drug enthusiast web site:

I’ve never had bad highs like I have from this. It kicks pretty hard about 5 minutes in. The world and everything you see makes no sense at all. Things you see every day become alien to you. And that’s not in a pleasant way, either. Confusion to this degree is no fun. My first time, I luckily had someone who had tried it before talk me through it, assuring me that it would mellow out or I would have lost it. During the first 15 minutes or so you go from that confusion to just a horrible state of mind. Two friends summed it up pretty well. One said it makes you think about EVERYTHING you don’t want to think about. Another said it made her question everything (the people in her life, all of the choices she has made in her life, etc.) I cannot stress enough the unpleasant nature of this stuff up front if you take more than maybe 2 hits and hold it for any real length… It just sucks. I’ve tried it in different settings with all sorts of different people and everyone seems to experience similar displeasure.

The primary effect of smoking diesel potpourri is referred to by these users as ” the fear”, a form of psychosis induced by the drug. Clearly this is a risky recreational drug for some people who choose to smoke it. Other drug users have said this about smoking Diesel Potpourri:

‘The Fear’, as you guys call it, that I experienced on Diesel is not unknown to me. I’ve had it with other things, too. But NOTHING like this. I’m talking about sitting there, thinking about the horrible ways I could die and vividly seeing my head exploding in my mind. I’ve had some bummers with MJ [marijuana] but nothing like this.

Perhaps if the judge frequented the underground drug forums, he would have had a more realistic sense of the child endangerment in this case. On the other hand, society seems to be neglecting everyone with mental health issues these days, likely due to costs, and may very well have seen this as yet one more improperly managed mental health patient living life with some family support. If the judge can’t secure assistance for the children or the parent, is it better to lock up the Dad or allow him to continue at least trying to care for his two ill children?

One core underlying issue that continues to surface is the marketing of potentially dangerous substances as legal highs, which is apparently done verbally, in person, by head shop sales people, sometimes via allusion or reference and often by direct statements.

If Dad was led to believe the diesel potpourri was “synthetic pot” and legal, how wrong was his intent to use it as medical marijuana for his ill children?

And if he is incapable of acting responsibly as a caregiver for those children, and has family support, where do police get involved? I doubt these issues are going to get any easier before they get better.

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